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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Olive Beach

Olive Beach has always featured on our list of must-try
sometime restaurants, but in so many years it never actually materialized. I
guess we were just waiting for the right occasion, which came in the form of
our 6th anniversary. It was pronounced date night, we got dressed,
kissed baby A goodnight and set off for a wonderful evening.

Though being in one of the busiest parts of Bangalore – parking wasn’t a hassle thanks to
the valet parking. We did make an appointment before hand and you might want to
do the same lest you be disappointed. We chose to sit outside amongst the
candles and fairy lights, perfect for that special date.

We started off our
meal with some cocktails. I had a passion fruit martini which was just right
– not too fruity and sickenly sweet as it’s usually in some places.

Passionfruit Martini

S ordered a
chilli martini .Wow, now that packed a punch! Perfect kick with the chilies
and alcohol. It was one of the best cocktails we’ve ever had till date.

For starters, we vowed to try something different and what
caught our eye was the Beef Carpaccio. We have heard it mentioned time and
again in Masterchef and Topchef and often wondered what it was. The description
read pepper crusted fillet sliced paper thin and served with parmesan cream,
arugula and truffle oil salad, and fried capers.

Beef Carpaccio , Chilli Martini

The presentation was just beautiful-the picture actually
does no justice to it, thanks to the low lighting. I tried to get everything in
a single mouthful for that perfect bite which was difficult with the beef so
tender and so thin, but it was something totally different. Fresh and full of
flavour. My favorite part was biting into the fried capers, just awesome. This
came to us along with an assortment of breads, some herb butter and olives.

Next we tried the Shrimp Bisque, which is essence of shrimp
with brandy and aromats,served with sweet water shrimp tempura.

Shrimp Bisque

The tempura
shrimp was crunchy and went well with the thick, hot and creamy soup. Seafood
lovers will just adore this soup.

The most difficult part was choosing the main course – we
were tempted by all they had to offer.The pastas, risottos , tagine, everything
just sounded so tempting.

Finally I settled for the Braised and caramelized Pork Belly
( again the influence of Masterchef). It s described as coorg inspired pork belly
braised for 8 hours in a mix of black pepper , vinegar , cumin and herbs.

Braised and caramelized Pork Belly

It
was served along with polenta which is cornmeal cooked like a porridge, and roasted apples. The
pork was tender and yummy and went perfect with the polenta but I wish there
was a sauce just to give it that extra bit of flavor.

S had the 8 hour lamb – which is shoulder of kid lamb
braised in cabernet and aromatics served with twice cooked lemon butter potatoes, and a smoky mustard fortified ancho and lamb bone sauce (quite
a mouthful).

8 Hour Lamb

The lamb was good but strongly reminded me of a good Indian mutton
curry. The potatoes were spectacular, crisp on the outside and soft and creamy inside.

We couldn’t leave without trying the desserts and opted for
the Catalan bread pudding.

Catalan Bread Pudding

It hit the spot with its amazing texture, full of
nuts and served with caramel ice-cream and cinnamon cream anglaise.

It is definitely on the pricy side, but amazing food and
great ambience. I would love to go back and try out everything else on the menu.